In the Prior Art, the preparation of chlorinated hydrocarbons containing from 14 to 40 carbon atoms and having a chlorine content of more than 60%, is carried out in an organic solvent, since the melt viscosity of the chlorinated paraffins formed is very high and chlorine exchange between the gaseous and the liquid phase no longer takes place normally. The solvent used is principally carbon tetrachloride, although other organic solvents such as halogenated C.sub.1 or C.sub.2 hydrocarbons are used in the paraffin chlorination reaction, examples of which would include chloroform, pentachloroethane, perchloroethylene, 1,1,1 -trichloroethane, 1,1,2-trichloroethane, and ethylene dichloride. However, with increasing environmental concerns regarding cancer and ozone layer depletion, the use of these organic solvents is not preferred today. The use of chlorofluorocarbons is also described in the literature as in German patent DE 2,150,599.
German patent DE 1,443,892 or its British equivalent (GB 1,114,612) teaches using an excess of chlorine in the reaction, which under pressure, will function in the same manner as using carbon tetrachloride as a solvent to dissolve the chlorinated material and promote the chlorine exchange reaction. This excess chlorine must still be removed with the attendant problems associated with removal of any organic solvent, requiring heating to a high temperature followed by vacuum stripping.
German patent DE 1,905,923, focuses on achieving a selective monochloroparaffin formation. For a C.sub.14 paraffin resin, this is a chlorination level of approximately 18%, while for a C.sub.40 paraffin resin, this is a chlorination level of approximately 6%. It has been generally known that it is possible to chlorinate these types resins up to as high a chlorination level as 50%, with or without any solvent.
The instant invention overcomes the prior art problems by essentially reacting a stoichiometric amount of chlorine with the paraffin wax. In that manner, there is no residual chlorine which will act as an organic solvent in excess, and which will need to be removed later. Additionally, there is no emulsion layer between the chlorinated paraffin layer and the aqueous layer, which also increases the final product isolation costs.